When the Butterflies Fly Away
by Whinnie
Summary: It was all in rhythmic motion. ;; goodbyes will always be painful, but some of the most valuable lessons can only be learned when someone leaves.


_**When the Butterflies Fly Away  
BY Whinnie**_

**Hey. Whinnie here, once again.**

**Anyway, **_**so **_**sorry for the bad author's note! You can sue me for it, but don't blame me much. I'm just feeling... sad. Hey, you would know if YOUR best friend in AC:WW moved away!**

**Speaking of that... in case you're wondering why you're here, this is a short oneshot on my best friend in AC:WW, Lily (the frog, in case you don't know), who moved from Brampton. I know she definitely wasn't real material, but I just can't forget her...**

**And I don't know why, but I had an urge to write this down right away... I guess I just need to pour my feelings out.**

**Anyway, read and review! Actually, never mind... it'll only make me feel worser. T.T**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Nintendo does, though, so hate them! ...Must I say more?**

_x x x x x x x x x x_

_No one agreed, now we feel betrayed.  
I wished you'd have stayed, and not moved away._

_x_

_That is what words will fail to say.  
So I'll tell it, in truth, for real, some day._

_---  
_IN LOVING MEMORY OF LILY the FROG  
A true frog, friend and flower to all.  
MAY 25th / 26th, 2006

* * *

First Person POV

I didn't cry. I couldn't.

The beautiful, yet crinkled, piece of rose stationary fell to the blue concrete floor with a soft, "Crunch." The sound seem sympathetic and sad, as if it shared my feelings.

Feelings... what feelings? What feelings did I have? Sure, maybe shock and surprise, some anger, sadness...

...guilt.

A wave of emotion washed over me. Yes, I was **guilty.** For something I did ... Or, in this case, **didn't **do.

My whole body, especially my mind and soul, felt numb. Slowly, I picked up the piece of paper from the ground in front of me. Dried, smudged ink was visible on the bright, torquoise lines. _Why? Why did those lines have to be turquoise?_

This is sad, Whitney,

I'm sick of being normal! I wanna be peppy or angry or tired or... anything!  
So I'm moving! I'm sorry for doing this... But I've got to go my own way, too...

Be well... Lily

I sighed, slamming my body against the wooden door of my house.The building shook slightly from the forced pressure it was handling. _At least, if I couldn't have stopped her from leaving, I could've said goodbye... _I slammed into the door again, this time harder. _But no! I didn't have the stupid will to get off my lazy butt and go out of the house! _With one more try on my mind, I backed up, then ran up to the door once again and threw my whole force against it. The house rumbled, but refused to let go of the ground. _Why did you have to leave!_

I sighed, knowing this "house hitting" method was useless. Obviously, this wasn't going to bring Lily back... so what was I doing? After a small debate in my head of whether I should just continue the afternoon as if nothing happened at all, or just stay in bed all day, I stormed up to the house, yanked open the door, and then slammed it. **Hard.**

_Why? Why did it have to be **Lily**? Why was it my **best friend **who had to move? How come it wasn't some other, dumb animal who's too smart or silly or cocky or slackish or... whatever... for their own good! WHY WAS IT LILY!_

My movements slowed down as I thought of Lily. Our time together was only 5 months... It had been so short, yet I felt as if I'd known her for an eternity.

_"Hey, Lily!" Dotty would always chirp in the mornings. Both of them spent this quiet time together in Dotty's garden, basking in the sunlight and just enjoying everything._

I headed farther into a corner of my house, by the door, where the clothes closet was.

_"Yo, Lily!" Everyone knew who's greeting towards the frog was. Butch was **not **a social person, but when he'd moved into Brampton, his first friends had consisted of Lily, Bones, and me. Nowadays, Lily and Butch were always chatting, making talk whenever they could._

In a suddenly sullen mood, I quietly zipped open the "closet" and peeled the door down, groping around the crowded shelves and spaces. In a few moments, I had retrieved some starry night sky paper, my 3 dandelion puffs, and my watering can, as well as a change of clothing for myself.

_"Lily!" Mint would usually call. She was usually the largest 'snob' in town, wandering around with makeup, fashionable clothes, her gossip, and the like, but whenever she was with Lily, she would have a change of heart; just being herself, opening up to her, and sometimes, watching her and Moppella (her "friend") try on her clothes! "I always had fun with Lily," the squirrel recalled once. "She's so... heartfelt and fun."_

Murmuring to myself, "She was so... heartfelt and fun...", I quickly changed, grabbed my watering can and the paper, and zipped out the door to water the flowers.

_"Yoohoo, Lilac!" Bones would always murmur dreamily when he saw Lily. No one knew why he ever called her that; maybe she reminded him of someone or something like that. I remember that, before the day my other best buddy moved, he told me about all the things he and Lily (and sometimes, Samson,) did before I moved in and Brampton became heavily populated. "We would raft down the river, ride through the sea, snowboard down the cliffs in winter..." he went on, in the storyteller's spot._

I marched outside, watering can in hand. As I passed by the spot where Lily's house had been, however, I felt a twinge of pain in my heart. Suddenly, I stopped, went over, and watered the flowers she'd left behind. Dotty, who was sadly walking by, noticed me at the hand's task and smiled glumly. As I finished and passed by, I heard the bunny whisper, "She should've never moved..."

_"Lily!" Limberg would wail, relieved, whenever he saw her. Usually, it was when he was in a tight spot with no solution present. Thankfully, though, the frog was smart, and always got him out of whatever mess he'd gotten into. After one particular time, when he had gambled against a tough gang of animals in the next town, she'd managed to sweet talk her way out of things, claiming he "had no idea he was gambling, and I'll make sure to pay for whatever trouble he's caused you!", and after that, the two promised to always cover each other up in sticky situations._

After a few minutes, I finished watering the Winter Gardens in front of Dotty's house, and was about to head over the stone bridge to the other side of town when I heard a hiss from behind a nearby tree. Turning my head towards the source, I saw Butch's head peeking out from a side of the trunk. After making sure no one was nearby, I saw him wiggle a finger at me and heard him murmur, "Come here."

_"Lily!" Alli would steam whenever they got into their usual, frequent fights. Usually, it was about Alli making fun of Lily's clothes or style, and the frog would always scream, "Why do our conversations always end with you teasing my stuff?" But finally, things would cool down, and in a few hours, the two would be friends again. And they would be fighting... again._

As I got closer, I could see that Butch was crying. When I was close enough, he quickly reached out an arm and yanked me behind the tree, beside him. "Why didn't you stop her?" he hissed. I glared at him and retorted, "Why didn't you?" That left us thinking. Finally, I withdrew away from him, gave the tree a final glance, and headed off across the stone bridge, watering can in hand.

_"Ahh, little Lily," Samson would usually observe. Whenever he said that, you knew he was checking out her "muscles". "I see you've been working out," he'd sometimes muse, but other times, it'd go like, "You have to exercise more! Push that body!" Usually, on the mornings that Lily didn't spend with Dotty or herself, she'd go running with Samson or working out with him._

Speaking of Samson... there he was, looking up at his house blankly. I headed towards him, and he only noticed me till I was standing in front of him. "Hello, Whitney," he droned, emotionless. I blinked back in reply. The guy was really taking it seriously. Maybe I shouldn't have interrupted his train of thought... Deciding to give time to himself, I headed away, farther east into town.

_"Lily!" Cube would croak. He got sick easily, and was mostly seen at home, in bed. Also oftentimes, if you looked into the windows, you would see Lily in a tulip chair beside him, either feeding him chicken soup, giving him medicine, reading novel excerpts and **Chillin' Magazine **clippings to him, or just chatting and giving him the latest town news._

As I headed towards my secluded area near the lake, I caught Limberg. He seemed sad to see me. After exchanging some plesantries that didn't seem very pleasant, the mouse wailed, "Why did she have to leave? Didn't she remember her promise to me? Didn't she say that we'd always back each other up? How..." and so on. I just listened, nodding and saying, "You're right," at regular intervals. After all, the mouse was boring, and I wouldn't have stuck around, but this **was **Lily as our topic, and I loved to hear word of my best friend. Especially at this time, when I couldn't hear from her herself.

Finally, after some time of endless talking from Limberg, he stopped and said farewell, heading away from my destination. I just shrugged, sighed, and headed away.

_"Lily!" Friga always crowed at the sight of the frog. When she had lived in Brampton, often the penguin would invite Lily to her house for tea and such. During that time, the queen bee would open up her life problems, insecurities, and secrets to her good friend. ...To everyone's good friend._

I reached my own little spot by the lake, and after watering the lone little rose I'd planted there, I set off to the other side of town. As I reached the other side of the bridge, I found Mint and Alli in front of Mint's house, whispering gravely. I slumped my shoulders, my pink hair bobbling behind me, as I heard Alli say, "I can't believe she just left us..."

_"Lily!" Blathers's warm voice always greeted happily whenever he saw her at the town museum. Usually, that was often, because although Lily had no fossils, fish, bugs, or paintings to give, she showed her large support by donating Bells whenever they were needed, and took her free time looking at the exhibits._

I sighed. Everyone seemed to be hit by the moving of Lily. **Very hard. **_See how much pain you've caused us? Maybe you shouldn't have moved to Brampton in the first place if you decided to leave so quickly... _Sighing once again, I headed off to the Town Hall in the next acre.

_"How're you doing, Lily?" Copper's voice would always echo throughout the hall of the Main Gate whenever he greeted Lily. Sometimes, the frog would be there to look for a possession at the lost and found, find out when Gracie would be coming to town, invite some of her friends from the neighbouring city over, or to just admire the paintings of the village history on the wall. And sometimes, it would be to make arrangements to... move. Yes, Lily had tried moving several times before she actually got away with it, but every single time, someone was there to persuade her to stay.  
But that hadn't been the case, this time._

As I made my way across the town square, watering few flowers around the area, I caught a glimpse of Pelly and Pete chatting together behind the counter. As I headed away, though, I heard someone else murmur, "I wish she'd stayed a little longer. Then I could've gotten to know her better."

_"Good day, Lily!" Pelly always chirped whenever the frog was at the Town Hall. I remember that Pelly said, once, "That girl was the first villager to move into the area. I remember she and I became good friends quick." And by the time Lily had moved out, which was 3 years after she moved in, she and Pelly were still friends forever. Lily became Pelly's first and favourite client of the Town Hall. She donated a lot to Boonbox, used the mailing system a lot of times, and helped the enviroment as well. Sometimes, when work was loaded, she would help be a clerk at the counter... free of charge._

I stopped and whirled around, pressing my face up to the glass harder than last time. When I did, I realized I saw something I hadn't noticed before. A purple-feathered bird, similar to Pelly, stood beside Pete, but I could barely see her from this angle. So, **Phyllis **missed Lily! No way! **The **Phyllis, the one who was always barking at customers, the one who hated her job, the one who envied her sister? **That **Phyllis -- someone must be playing a joke! But no, this was no joke: Lily had moved, someone was moving back in to take her place, everyone hated Lily's moving, and Phyllis was missing Lily! What would happen next? The sky would be falling because it had been effected as well?

_"Yeah, you, the frog named Lily!" Phyllis barked. Lily shifted nervously in her spot in line at the post office center. She'd forgotten to send an **urgent **message to Butch in the day, so here she was, waiting in line. She never really knew that there was a night clerk, or that so many animals hung around the Town Hall at night.  
I gripped my best friend's arm. "Come on, Lily," I urged her. "The clerk just called your name." Seeing the frightened expression on her face, however, I explained, "That's just Phyllis, the Town Hall's nightly clerk. She's just like this because she got the night job, is all." Quickly, we rushed to the front of the line and, as Phyllis deposited the letter onto a shelf, Lily began, "So... what's your name? I'm Lily!"  
"I can see that," Phyllis growled. The frog sighed and frowned in reply as Phyllis barked, "Next!"  
However, just as we left the Town Hall, I turned around, and saw a small, barely visible, smile on Phyllis's face -- and it wasn't smug._

Pete and Pelly looked at Phyllis, surprised. I just sighed and turned away from the window, heading off, as Pete exclaimed, surprised, "I never knew you had a soft spot for that girl..." Of course she did, although people didn't expect it to happen! **Everyone **had a soft spot for Lily!

I moved on, watering flowers here and there. Finally, I reached the town museum, on the northern side of town. Slowly, I looked up at the tall, white building that stood before me. _Lily always loved coming here... _But now, the love was gone.

_"Hey there, coo," Brewster always chirped cheerfully whenever Lily was around. Sometimes, on her trips to the museum, the frog would drop by the basement to talk with other clients, chat with Brewster, and... grab a cup of heartful, yet bitter, coffee. When Brewster first came to town and Lily hung around, he would be bland and dull, like usual. But eventually, the pigeon got used to her, and started warming up to her. Eventually, he got to know her life story, and she had memorized his, and they were like the warmest of friends. But now that Lily had moved away, what would happen to Brewster?_

I groaned, filled with thoughts rapidly swirling around in my head, like the work of a blender. _I **really **need to get some coffee after. _Quickly, I headed off to finish my 'gardening' job, stopping by the Main Gate during the task.

As soon as I entered, the first thing I heard was the music blaring through the hidden speakers in the short, stone-lined hall. It wasn't your everyday radio music... Basically, it was music you heard at a crowning event, or something that had to do with 'honor'. Still, I had no idea why this kind of music was playing... Maybe to promote the historical paintings on display inside the hall?

Copper and Booker were at their usual posts, on either sides of the gate. Both were wearing their green uniforms, with a stick positioned, erect and completely straight, beside them. I checked each canine out, from head to toe, and was met with glances of their own. Booker smiled nervously and murmured a small, "Hello," while Copper nodded toward me sadly. Then, after an uneven moment, he added in, "I've heard that..."

"Hasn't everyone?" I snapped, irritated. Copper flinched, as if I'd slapped his best friend in the face. I sighed, then, after apologizing, talked to Booker for some time, before deciding to leave. However, just before I stepped out of the Main Gate's hall, Copper, murmured softly, "I wish I'd asked her where she was going..."

_"Ho ho!" Tom Nook would chuckle whenever Lily would pick out an item to buy at his convenience store. Although the racoon was sometimes annoying to Lily (and everyone else), he was especially nice to her. She had been his first customer in town, anyway, and his biggest buyer! He liked giving her discounts, and free offers as well. "Hope she never leaves, so she can bring in more Bells," Nook had once joked._

I stopped, and slowly whirled around. Finally, after a moment of tensed silence, I whispered, "She would've said Brampton." My soft voice echoed all around the room, so that even anyone that was entering would've heard the message. Copper just sighed sadly and shook his head. "How do you know what her response would be?" he countered gently, so it didn't seem like a retort at all.

"I'm her best friend," I replied. "I **know **Lily. Maybe, just maybe..." I shut my eyes tightly and quickly turned around, running out of the Main Gate, running through the entrance of the Main Gate's hall, running away from the Main Gate... that had swallowed Lily, my best friend, away.

_"Why, hello there, Lily!" Sable would always greet Lily whenever she stopped by the Able's Tailor Shop. Like some others in Brampton, Sable wasn't exactly one to open up easily, but when the hedgehog and her sister, Mable, moved in 2 years after Lily did, she had been the one to be there at the Main Gate to welcome them to town, always keep available to show them around, and sometimes, even ask them out for some coffee!_

Finally, after running, I'd reached the other side of town: where the Tailor's and Nook 'N' Go, Nook's convenience store, was located. Shoving my watering can into the deepest part of my pocket (actually, it was a small sack Bones gave me when I'd first moved here, that was **inside **my pocket,) I headed through the sliding door of Nook's shop. As usual, he was at the front of the store, waiting to welcome any customers inside.

_Mable had only been 8 when she and Sable had moved to Brampton to start a new life and get away from their troubled past: their father had been leaving for an uncle's house, and their mother had been with him outside the Main Gate to wish him off, when she was hit by a moving taxi. Their father had never returned, and Mable was only 4, and Sable, 16, when the incident happened. Therefore, while Sable managed the store, Lily would take care of Mable at the Ables' cabin on the outskirts of town, or sometimes, at the back of the store._

"Well, if it isn't Whitney," Nook mused. Then, he added in a jolly, "Ho ho ho! So good to see you!" But I knew he wasn't. In fact, I knew he wasn't up to doing anything at all today -- except for crawling back under the sheets of his bed and trying to forget what had happened.

_"Eheheheh! What do we have here?" Mayor Tortimer once mused to Lily during a fishing tourney. The frog had heard rumors that the old turtle had wanted a massage chair, so she'd went out herself to some large shopping center some miles away from Brampton and gotten a "small" gift for Tortimer... "to show Brampton's appreciation of you," Lily had said, presenting the chair to him._

"Nook," I said gently, "why don't you take a little break for today?" The raccoon, who'd been looking down at his paws, resting on his apron, suddenly looked up at me and replied with a small, sad smile, as well as a, "I can't! I'm waiting for Lily to arr-"

"Please, Nook," I tried again. It was time for him to face the hard, cold truth. "Lily," I began, but I couldn't get the rest of the words out. "Lily won't..." I sighed. This was hopeless! How was I going to tell Nook to relax, when I was panicking myself? _You can do this._

"Lily's sick?" Nook asked. He blinked twice at me before asking once again, "Will she be coming in today? Is she sick? Did she go to the next town? Was she so busy that she had to send you in to fet--"

"Nook!" I finally blurted out. "Lily won't be coming in because **she moved!**" I screamed. Nook stared wide-eyed at me, shocked at my reaction. Finally, he mumbled, "You didn't have to put it that way. I was just hoping that everything would be alright once again."

"**But it won't be!**" I screamed. It was all over now; I had exploded, and now all my feelings were being sent all around the place. "**Nothing will be the same because **_**Lily is GONE! **_**She was everyone's best friend, and everyone respected her, and now she's gone and Phyllis won't get to know her better and Pelly won't get to see her again and Samson and her will never work out together and Dotty won't get to sit with her in the mornings and Butch won't...**"

"Calm down!" screamed another voice. I stopped, panting from my large outburst. Nook stared at the source of the voice, surprised. Standing in the doorway was Celeste, Blathers's niece and the owner of the village's observatory. Behind her stood Brewster, Blathers, Pelly, Phyllis, Dotty, Butch, Copper, Booker, and every other person in Brampton. Even Gulliver, which I'd heard that his ship crashed down by the beach, had stopped by to see what all the ruckus was about.

"What is going on here?" Phyllis groaned. Everyone shot a glare at her. After all, she **knew **clearly what was going on here! Lily. "Just leave me all alone!" I wailed. "Why didn't you people stop her from moving when you knew I wasn't going to be here!" With that, I stormed off towards my house. The townspeople closely followed behind. Suddenly, I remembered that I had yet to water one more flower. So I took my watering can out quickly and ran off, to try and get away from everyone. Still, the town closely followed.

I hurried past Lily's old house... Dotty's house... the tree which Butch had been hiding behind earlier today... the stone bridge I'd crossed after I encountered Butch... I quickly made a left turn towards the beach, and kept following the river to the left... and stopped. So did everyone else behind me.

There -- there was a beautiful sight to behold! The spot where I'd planted my lone, white rose had been a very secluded spot. It was located beside the beach, where the shoreline ended, beside the river which led out to the ocean. But now -- there were **2 **white roses... and a pink rose in front of the new flower! On the petals of the flowers were... common butterflies. Each petal was rested on by a common butterfly, and sometimes, two.

And that was just the beginning of beautiful! In front of me, hovering above the seashore, were... more common butterflies! A whole swarm of them, to be exact. They floated up and down like fireflies on a warm, June night; darted left and right like a dodging dragonfly... and they were _beautiful_. I felt my breath get caught in my throat as I watched the insects of beauty move around gently, so free... Like Lily, like how I'd -- how **we'd**, Brampton's people -- had set her free.

Everyone stopped behind me as well, and there were large, collective gasps from all around. The butterflies flew around, following the breeze's direction, or shaking up and down slowly with the wind. It was all in rhythmic motion.

After a few minutes of just standing there, in a peaceful silence, watching the butterflies, my eyes darted towards a little one which had wandered away from the group. Slowly, it grew smaller and smaller, as it flew away from the others, never to return. And slowly, slowly, as a few other butterflies flew off, so did some of the townspeople. First, Nook left... then, Pete flew off into the sky... then, Pelly and Phyllis and Sable and Mable... Blathers... Celeste... Brewster, Gulliver... until only the villagers remained. Butch left, then Limberg departed, followed by Samson, Alli and Mint, till only... Dotty remained. She stood beside me and asked in a whisper, "Cinnamon? You gonna be alright, wee one?" I nodded slowly, kept nodding, until she had disappeared across the river and into her house.

Now there were only two butterflies left. There was no longer a large sight anymore... Only the two butterflies resting on the petals of the pink rose. "Hey there, little fellas," I said, in a soft, happy tone, with a smile. Slowly, wanting to savour the moment, I crept quietly across to the triplet of roses, then watered them each. Then I sat down and watched them, sitting on the petals, occasionally flapping their wings gently, until the pair decided it was time for them to say goodbye.

I knew the time would come soon, but I just wasn't ready to let go of them. I thought of capturing them both with my net, but then... nature isn't supposed to be caged up inside this confined container. It's supposed to be _**free**_, in the wild... And that got my train of thought running.

Free...  
In the world...  
In the wild...  
With no one to stop you...  
See new things...  
Meet new people...  
Explore new places...  
Find new situations...

Suddenly, I understood. As I waved goodbye to the butterflies, I realized -- both of them were heading in the direction of the spread-out ocean, but in different directions: one headed left, while the other was going right. And as I saw this image play out before me, I suddenly realized that, although we never want to change, each one of us will eventually have to move on and go our seperate paths. There's no changing fate.

And then I understood why Lily had left. And I was mad and sad.

But yet, at the same time, I was happy. Happy for her, my best friend, Lily. You know why?

Because, when the butterflies fly away, you know you've set them free, and you know you've let them go their own ways.

And you're happy. Because you're always happy when you set the butterflies free, and that's when the butterflies fly away.

* * *

end

* * *

_Words are too much for this sentence to say,  
Because this is what words will fail to say.  
But it doesn't matter; come what may,  
Because I've set you free, like...  
The Butterflies That Fly Away._

_---  
_IN LOVING MEMORY OF LILY the FROG  
A true frog, friend and flower to all.  
MAY 25th / 26th, 2006

* * *

**Final Note:**

**Well, what else can I say? When I read this story over, it _made me cry. _Yes, now you know how emotional I can get, LOL. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy, and I hope you like the angst, too. :) Anyway, happy days, readers! And don't slack off in Animal Crossing: Wild World, and lose a good friend like how I did! You just might end up writing a sappy oneshot like show I did...**

**Hope to see you around!**

_Whinnie_


End file.
